My Dogma Ran Over My Karma

What makes these tactics so insidious is that they deal with issues that impact us all—morality, justice, meaning, our very humanity—by shutting down any possibility of dialogue, and that in an age when it’s needed more than ever. Even so, for the most part I do not believe this is being done deliberately. The New Atheists I know are all decent, intelligent people who genuinely care about the well-being of others and their communities. They long for meaningful dialogue and resolutions to these issues as much as anyone. But they don’t seem to realize that they’ve adopted a stance that prevents that from happening.

The Atheists that influenced my intellectual and spiritual development bore little resemblance to their New Atheist progeny. These men and women were scholars. Throughout their careers they made meaningful contributions to human knowledge, one could learn much from their works. Nearly 70 years after it was first published, Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy is still one of the finest such works in print. Antony Flew’s God and Philosophy was one of the seminal works (if not the seminal work) that defined 20th Century Atheist philosophy and laid the groundwork for decades of productive philosophical study.¹ These and other such works are still regularly assigned reading in many undergraduate history, philosophy and theology programs. I didn’t find their arguments for Atheism convincing, but at least they had arguments—ones they had thought through to some degree and weren’t afraid to put on the table. They had no patience for New Atheism’s incivility and straw men—the kind which require no intellectual honesty or courage to face—and they made an honest effort to learn something about the religions they rejected. Most of what I know of the theologies of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine I learned from Russell’s works, and Isaac Asimov’s Guide to the Bible is to this day one of my favorite and most dog-eared Bible commentaries.

By contrast, having read numerous works by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and other New Atheists I honestly can’t point to a single thing I learned from them. Nowhere did I encounter any real information relevant to their core claims—No science, no history, no philosophy or comparative religion… not one properly researched fact or idea that might have challenged me to rethink my beliefs. The best were restricted to civil, but hubris-laden op-ed directed at straw men. The worst were nothing more than narcissistic rage. The first time I finished Russell’s History of Western Philosophy I stuffed it back into my bookshelf and ran straight to the bookstore. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on more of his work. The only thing I got from Dawkins and Harris was comic relief, and Hitchens’ God is Not Great was like having raw sewage thrown in my face. I still recall putting it down and feeling like I had to take an hour-long shower just to wash the stench of pure undiluted hate off my soul.

Carl Sagan once said,

“It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

If we want to give our children a world worth living in we must relinquish darkness cursing no matter how satisfying or ego-boosting it may be, and commit ourselves to lighting candles. This will not be possible unless New Atheists are willing to relinquish this conversation-stopping game and engage in open-minded dialog with those they disagree with. The good news is that despite all appearances to the contrary, it’s a house of cards founded on five philosophical myths. Once these have been dealt with they will be able to enjoy the same understanding and dialogue traditional theist and Atheist scholars have for many years, if they so choose. Let’s examine each in turn.

Myth 1: Religion is “mythology”

The world’s religious traditions are rich beyond description, built upon the searching and insight of countless people who have worked out their salvation daily over many millennia wrestling with countless questions in countless ways. What is the nature of reality…? Where did the universe come from and what is our place in it…? What are we here for…? Are we loved, and does love even matter…? Does anything matter…? Some of these questions are metaphysical while others address the physical world and our experience of it. The answers they offer are as varied as the hearts and minds of the people who practice them… and those answers come at a price. Disciples are often called to go where they would rather not, let go of things they would rather cling to, be patient with mystery where answers have not yet been given (and may never be). Understanding these experiences and traditions, and the doctrines they shaped is the work of a lifetime. The world’s libraries are filled with works of comparative religion, metaphysics, the history of religion, and studies of science and religion as well as sacred texts. Therein one finds the knowledge and stories of countless scholars, scientists, poets and lay people who have faced these questions thoughtfully and prayerfully.

But spiritual struggles and moral dilemmas are messy issues. There are few, if any easy answers and even life’s blessings are often given in ways we would not chose. Few of us realize the extent to which we protect our hearts with clenched fists, but only open hands can receive a gift. Confronting such realities is more costly than many of us want to face, and there will always be those who would rather not have to do all that work. The writer Milan Kundera once said,

“Man desires a world where good and evil can be clearly distinguished, because he has an innate and irrepressible desire to judge before he understands.”